BRUSSELS

European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius warned on Wednesday that Europe faces critically low defense stockpiles, as the bloc unveiled a new €115 million ($133 million) instrument to accelerate military innovation and production.

"Stockpiles really are very empty for all the different weapons, including missiles or munitions," Kubilius told reporters in Brussels, highlighting what he described as a key vulnerability in the EU's defense readiness.

The remarks came as the EU Commission introduced the AGILE program, a pilot initiative designed to rapidly bring disruptive defense technologies from development to deployment.

Kubilius stressed that modern warfare requires faster production cycles, scalable solutions and lower costs, noting that traditional defense manufacturing in Europe remains dominated by a small number of large contractors producing highly sophisticated but slow-to-deliver systems.

"Today we need to be ready to win the wars of tomorrow, not just to fight the wars of yesterday. In between tomorrow and yesterday, we need to be ready to fight the wars of today. Be able to adapt very quickly, to ramp up production immediately," he said.

Kubilius added that between 70% and 80% of EU defense procurement is directed toward the bloc’s top 10 contractors, compared to less than 40% in the US. The concentration, he argued, contributes to limited flexibility and slow production ramp-ups.

The AGILE program seeks to address the gaps by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups and scale-ups with grants ranging from €1 million to €5 million, with approval decisions targeted within four months.

The initiative aims to deliver new technologies within six to 12 months.

He said the industry faces structural challenges, particularly a lack of long-term demand visibility from EU member states.

To address it, the EU Commission is exploring incentives for countries to build up "defense readiness stockpiles," which could provide stable, long-term demand for weapons production.

"We need to remember that member states, if they implement NATO pledges by 2035, they will have the possibility to spend 50-100 times more for defense than we will spend on the EU level through the next MFF (Multiannual Financial Framework)," he said.